Operation: Seto Gets the Girl
by Tawnykit
Summary: What's a CEO to do when he begins feeling things he never thought possible? Why, talk to his little brother, of course!
1. Conversation

Disclaimer: I do not own _Yu Gi Oh!_. Someday I'll take over the world, and then I _will_ own it, but until that time, I'll have to be satisfied with fanfictions.

A/N: (blink) What's this, Tawnykit? A _romance_? (choke) Am I actually writing a _romance_? Who am I, and what have the aliens done to my soul to get me to do such a thing? I didn't know I was capable.

Ages: If I recall correctly, Serenity is two years younger than Seto is. If I want them both to be going to the same school, shall we say that she's fifteen and he's seventeen in this story? That would put Mokuba at eleven and the nerd herd, I mean, Yugi and his friends at seventeen-ish, like Seto. (Mokuba would be eleven because Seto was five when he was born, but then Seto turned six a few months later. For most of the year, from his birthday on October twenty-fifth to Mokuba's on July seventh, Seto is six years older than Mokuba, not five.)

And I know the chances of something like this happening are, what, zero? But we all know that deep down, Mr. Coldhearted CEO _does_ have a soft side.

Special thanks to Caorann fridh Brónach, for both beta-ing and for putting up with my constant moaning about stupid Rabid Plot Bunnies!

* * *

"Little brother?" 

Mokuba Kaiba looked up from where he was sprawled on his bed doing his homework. His older brother stood in his doorway, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

"What's up, Seto?" Mokuba sat up, dragging his thoughts away from the square root ofonehundred and sixty-nineand focusing his attention on his brother.

"…I need to talk to you about something."

_Uh-oh_… Mokuba cringed inwardly. _He didn't find out about **that**, did he_…

"I didn't do it!"

The tall brunette raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Didn't do _what_, exactly?"

"Uh… Nothing."

Seto came into the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He still looked suspicious, and Mokuba gave him an innocent smile. "So… Um… What did you want to talk about?"

"Ah… Well…" Seto rubbed the bridge of his nose absently. Mokuba blinked. He wasn't used to seeing his brother look so flustered.

After taking a moment to collect himself, Seto spoke. "All right… I know that I'm the one who's supposed to help you with your problems and not the other way around, but you're better at emotional matters than I am…" he trailed off, frowning.

"Okay… Yeah, sure thing, bro. What's the matter?"

"To put it bluntly… I'm a hormonal male teenager and Wheeler's sister won't get out of my head."

Mokuba blinked again. Had Seto just said what he _thought_ he had? He felt a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Seto scowled. "It's not funny."

Still grinning, Mokuba shook his head. "No, you're right, it's not. I'm sorry; it's just that you looked so… not like you."

"…"

Mokuba took a deep breath, wondering how much exactly he would have to explain to his antisocial brother. "Okay… Let's start with the basics. How will she not stay out of your head?"

"…"

"Come on, Seto, I can't help if you're not going to talk."

"…What is there to explain, exactly?"

Mokuba sighed. Seto was being difficult. "Won't get out of your head good, or won't get out of your head bad?"

The older boy blinked, as if he hadn't thought about that before. "I can't work when all I can think about is The Mutt's sister."

Mokuba slapped his forehead. "That's not what I meant…"

"Then what, exactly, did you mean?"

"How does it make you _feel_?"

"…What do you mean?"

The twelve-year-old ran his hand through his raven-colored hair, trying not to be annoyed. He had to remind himself that his brother had absolutely no experience with feeling emotions that he couldn't control. He was bound to be reluctant to discuss it. He was surely beginning to panic about it if he had made himself bring it up at all.

"Do you feel good when you think about her?"

"…"

"_Seto_…"

"…Yeah."

"Okay, _now_ we're getting somewhere. What about when you're with her?"

His brother visibly paled, though he managed to control his facial expression. "W-what?"

"How do you feel when you're near her?"

"You're implying that I can get within a ten foot radius without-" He stopped before he finished his sentence.

"Without what?"

"…Without being repulsed by the nerd herd. I swear, she's always surrounded by them…"

"Well, they _are_ her friends. And her brother's friends."

"Don't remind me…"

"But that's not what you were going to say."

"Excuse me?"

Mokuba smirked. "'Without being repulsed by the nerd herd' is _not_ what you were going to say."

Seto glared. The color had returned to his face now; in fact, if Mokuba hadn't known any better, he would have thought that the usually stoic CEO was very faintly blushing. He resisted the urge to tease his brother about it. This conversation was difficult enough as it was.

"So what happens when you get within a ten foot radius? And _don't_ say that Yugi and his friends annoy you so much that you can't, because I don't believe that."

"Mokuba…" the older boy growled. He was definitely blushing now.

"Okay, fine, we'll do this the long way." Mokuba paused, thinking of all of the classic symptoms he could. "Does your heart rate increase?"

"You sound like you're diagnosing a disease," Seto grumbled.

"Just answer the question."

"…Yes."

"Do you feel hot?"

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

"I meant your temperature, geez! Does it feel like your body temperature increases?"

"…Maybe…"

"_Seto_…"

"…Yes."

"Does it feel hard to breathe?

"…Yeah."

"Do you blush?" He hid a smirk by bending down to fiddle with his shoelace.

Seto sighed. When he spoke, his voice was dry. "If I were anyone else, I'm sure that I might be mistaken for a ripe tomato. As it is, it takes every scrap of my training to hide it." He propped his head up with his hands, frowning.

Mokuba's lips twitched up at his brother's analogy. _Ripe tomato, huh? I'll have to remember that_… "Okay, one last question."

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Nope," was the cheerful reply.

"Great…"

"Okay… Um, how to put this…" Mokuba rubbed his forehead. "Do you, um, start imagining… er…" He waved his hand absently. "I don't know… what it'd be like to kiss her… or stuff like that?

Seto scowled. "What do you take me for, some kind of pervert?"

Both boys were blushing now, and Mokuba covered his face with his hands, mumbling, "Well, do you?"

"…I'm not answering that."

"What, don't want to self-incriminate yourself?" he smirked from behind his hands.

"…" Seto stood, and for a minute Mokuba thought he was going to leave. He sat up, about to shout at his brother to come back (and give chase, if he had to), but was relieved to find that the older boy was merely pacing around the bedroom. Mokuba watched him as he walked to and fro, the twelve-year-old's eyes bouncing back and forth as if he were watching a tennis match.

Finally, the CEO stopped in front of the room's sole window. The sun was setting and was just shining into the bedroom, silhouetting the tall boy. Mokuba had to shade his eyes to protect them from the light.

"You okay?" Mokuba asked.

"I'm fine. Just… thinking."

"About…?" He didn't need to specify.

"Mayb–…Yeah." He turned away from the window, his face calm. He came back over to the bed and sat down once more.

"So," Mokuba began.

"What?"

"Well, I might be stating the obvious here, but it sounds like you have a crush on Joey's sister."

He ran his hand through his hair. "On The Mutt's sister… So what do I do about it?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "First off, get over the fact that she's related to Joey. I know you don't like him, but that doesn't have anything to do with her."

"She's a _Wheeler_."

"You can't help who you fall for, Seto. It just…"

"Just what?"

"It just happens. It's not like you walked down the street and decided to fall in love," he ignored his brother's choking and pressed on, "with your rivals's friend's little sister."

"I didn't want to 'fall in love,' as you so eloquently put it, with anyone at all!" he snarled.

"Well, there's not much you can do about it. Personally, I think a girl would do you good."

"_What?_"

"You heard me. You're too uptight, Seto, you need to learn to have some fun."

"…Fun?"

"Yeah, you know, _fun_."

"I don't have time for 'fun.' Or a girlfriend."

"Don't know _what_ to tell you."

"Some help you are," the teenager growled.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to help. Just that I wasn't going to help you ignore her."

"Mokuba, the last thing I need right now is to get involved with The Mutt's sis–"

"Stop right there!" Mokuba interrupted.

"What?"

"You can't keep thinking of her as 'The Mutt's sister,' Seto!" he said, as if speaking the obvious. "She _does_ have a name, you know; you should start using it."

"…Fine, then. The last thing I need right now is to get involved with _Serenity_. There, happy now?"

"It's a start. Not a very good start, but it's a start nonetheless."

"_Mokuba_…"

"Tell me truly, big brother, what do you want?"

He blinked, surprised at that question. "What do you mean?"

"You say you don't have time for her, because of the company and whatever, but what do you _want_? Forgetting obligations and responsibilities, if you were just an ordinary seventeen-year-old with an ordinary crush on an ordinary girl, would you _want_ to do something about it?"

"I…"

Mokuba sighed. "If you want to get closer to her, then you could always, I don't know, get her flowers or something. Or ask her out."

Seto coughed, obviously not liking that idea. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it, scowling.

"What?" Mokuba pressed.

He ran a hand through his hair, not responding at first. Finally, he asked, "What if…?"

"What if what?"

"…Nothing."

"What if she doesn't feel the same?" he prompted.

Seto grimaced.

Correctly interpreting that as a 'yes,' Mokuba said, "Well, there's only one way you're gonna find out, right?"

"Not going to happen, little brother."

"Well, the feeling's not just going to go away, you know. If you don't do something about it, it'll just keep bugging you. At least, that's my advice."

"…I have work I should be doing." Seto stood up, not looking at his brother.

"Okay." Mokuba watched him walk to the door, then called out, "Hey, Seto?"

He stopped and turned back to face the younger boy. "Yes, Mokuba?"

"Thanks for trusting me."

"…If I can't trust you, kid, who can I trust?"

Mokuba smiled. "Seto?"

"Yes?"

"What're you gonna do?"

"…I don't know, Mokuba." Not waiting for another question, the CEO turned and left.

Mokuba sighed, lying back on his bed and tucking his hands behind his head. "Wow… Seto likes Serenity…" He smiled. "I never would've thought…" He picked up the pencil that he had been doing his homework with before his brother had come in and began to fiddle with it. His smile grew. "She'll be good for him. Assuming that he ever makes a move, of course… Well, I suppose I could always… help…" With that thought, the twelve-year-old smirked and returned to his homework.

* * *

A/N: (pulls out pistol and shoots Rabid Plot Bunny) Damn thing won't die… 

(cringe) Okay, so how bad was it? has never written a romance before

Dare I ask for your reviews?


	2. Crush

Disclaimer: (insert your favorite sarcastic disclaimer **here**)

A/N: Wow… Just wow… I want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter. I've gotten nothing but positive responses so far, which really surprised and encouraged me. I hope this chapter and the ones to come can live up to expectations.

Well, here goes round two!

* * *

Seto Kaiba stared at his laptop screen, trying to concentrate on his work. A certain redhead was once more refusing to get out of his thoughts. 

He wasn't sure how it had happened, really. He remembered the first time he had met her, back during Battle City. He had noticed her only because she had been related to the dog that is Joseph Wheeler, and he had been most unimpressed with what he had seen: a meek, quiet girl, hiding behind her brother and his pitiful friends for comfort and protection. Not only that, but the she-mutt had had the nerve to _bow_ to him when the dweeb patrol was asking for him to land the airship. They had been worried about one of their friends, who was injured and supposedly in need of a hospital, despite the fact that he had the best doctors money could hire already on the ship. He had been disgusted with her, furious at her for groveling at him as if he were some kind of weak fool in need of having his ego appealed to help them save their friend.

He had decided – quite justifiably, he might add – that she wasn't worth his time. He had kept her in his thoughts during Battle City only because, as one of the multitudes of civilians on his blimp, it was his responsibility to see that she made it off safely. As soon as the tournament had ended, he had allowed himself to forget her.

That had been a year ago, and he would have been quite happy to never hear the name "Serenity Wheeler" again.

It wasn't until the first day of the torture that the government forced upon all of the unfortunate underaged beings in the world – otherwise known as school – that he had been reminded of her existence. She had been a freshman, beginning her first year at Domino High. Two years her senior, he had been a junior, and only the fact that he was halfway done with the damn institution kept him from declaring all-out war on the one thing that stood between him and his company.

His day had been progressing quite normally when it had happened. He had been heading to the library, intending to work through his lunch wave, when he had run – almost literally – into the nerd herd. They had been going in the exact opposite direction, towards the cafeteria that he usually shunned.

The midget more commonly known as Yugi Motou had given him that naïve smile he seemed so adept at. "Hi, Kaiba! Good to see you again! Did you have a nice summer?"

"…" He had tried to push past them, not particularly wanting to banter with them just then (or ever, really).

Friendship Girl had stepped in his path. "Come on, Kaiba, can't you not be a jerk for five minutes? Yugi asked you a question."

"Since when do I take orders from _you_, Gardner?" he had growled. Deciding that he wasn't going to be able to avoid them after all, he had stepped back, setting his briefcase down, observing them. That's when he had noticed someone else had been added to their group.

She was hanging near the back, standing between Dice Boy and Shark Head. Her entire attitude stank of freshman, from the wide-eyed way she took in her surroundings to the way she hung behind her friends. She had seemed vaguely familiar to him, and he soon found out why.

"I see you've recruited a new member into the nerd herd," he drawled, focusing his attention on her. She looked at him as well, then blushed and looked down.

Still giving himthat annoying smile, Yugi had answered him, ignoring the insult. "Yeah… You remember Serenity, don't you?"

He had raised an eyebrow lazily. "Should I?"

"From Battle City? She's Joey's little sister."

His gaze had shifted to Wheeler, taking in the protective way he hovered near the girl. "Ah, of course. How forgetful of me."

He had taken a step towards her. The Mutt, Dice Boy, and Shark Head had glared at him, but he had ignored them. "Stand up straight, girl!" he had snapped. Then, sneeringly, "Stop hiding behind your boyfriends."

Her blush had deepened, embarrassed, but she did as he said. Before he could say anything else, however, the Mutt stepped in front of him.

"Ya listen here, Moneybags. Ya leave my sis alone, got it?" he had growled, waving his fist threateningly.

"Or you'll do _what_, Mutt?" Suddenly he smirked, his gaze flicking back to Serenity again. "I wonder… If your brother's a mutt… then you must be a she-mutt. Does that make you a bitch?"

There had been gasps around him, and Wheeler had lunged at him, swinging his fist.

He had stepped back, prepared to fight, but Wheeler never made it to him. Something had attached itself – or rather, herself – to the other boy's arm, clinging to him.

"Joey, no! Don't get in a fight on the first day!" his sister had cried.

"B-but Ren! Ya heard what he said!"

"Yes I did, Joey, but that's no reason to start a fight!"

"He's de one who's startin' stuff!"

"Well, then you can be the one to end it!"

Seto had watched the argument in amusement. He had thought that would indeed be the end of it, and was bending down pick up his briefcase in preparation to leave, when Serenity had turned to him.

She had held his gaze, which was the first thing that surprised him. There were not many people who could hold his gaze for long. The second surprise came when she spoke.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Kaiba," she had said. There was no trace of fear or even anger in her voice, only calm determination. "Perhaps I can change your mind someday."

Seto hadn't been sure whether to be amused, annoyed, or something else. He had finally decided on 'something else.'

Still holding her gaze, he had grabbed his briefcase and stood up straight, adjusting the strap of his laptop case on his shoulder. Smirking, he had spoken. "Well, I must admit I'm impressed, Miss Wheeler. It appears you have a spine after all." He thought, but didn't add aloud, _Very interesting. I'll be keeping an eye on you. _With that, he spun on his heel and left, not saying another word.

Perhaps that was where it all had started, he decided now. She had interested him; he had acknowledged as much. He had indeed watched her, noticing again and again how her hidden fire failed to disappoint him. Somewhere along the way, interest had turned into affection, though he would never have admitted it. And affection, it appeared, had turned into… this.

A crush, his brother called it. He had heard of them before, but never had he expected that _he_ would ever have one.

Setosighed, rubbing his eyes and blinking. He had been staring unseeingly at his screen for too long; he felt stiff.

He reached into his trench coat pocket, pulling out the deck of cards that he was never without. He searched through them for a minute, allowing himself to smile with fondness when he came across one of his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons.

Finally, he found the card he was looking for. He pulled it free of its comrades and set the rest of the deck aside, staring at his chosen card.

The Crush Card. A virus that, used correctly, would devastate an opponent's deck. Combined with Saggi the Dark Clown, it was one of his best and favorite strategies. It would spread throughout any and all powerful monsters and destroy them, crippling the dueler who depended on them.

He stroked the card absently. A crush? How fitting. It certainly seemed to be crushing him. He wondered briefly if this were how monsters felt when he infected them with his virus, but quickly discarded the idea. Holograms couldn't feel anything, after all.

With a sigh, he set the Crush Card down and exited the document he had been trying to work on. He couldn't concentrate right now.

He opened a game of Minesweeper, but even the addicting puzzle he usually used to relax couldn't help him this time. With sixty-eight mines still on the field, he miscalculated, and the game was over. He stared at the red square that had been his undoing, scowled, and exited the game.

He picked up his deck again, sliding the Crush Card back into the center. He replaced the deck in his coat pocket and shut down his laptop. If he couldn't work, he might as well get some sleep.

* * *

A/N: Aw, poor Seto-kun! Leave a review; maybe that'll cheer him up! 

Seto: (raises eyebrow) Are you insane, girl?

Tawnykit: Yes. What, is something wrong with that?

Seto: …

Tawnykit: (whispers) I think it really will cheer him up. He just doesn't want to admit it! (furtive nod)


	3. Collision

Disclaimer: In an effort to avoid being locked in closets, I will admit that I do not own _Yu Gi Oh!_. However, please note that I don't do this gladly.

* * *

"Seto? Seetttttttoooooooo… Seto!" 

Seto jerked, focusing on his brother. "Sorry, kid… Did you say something?"

Mokuba frowned at him from across the table, cocking his raven-haired head as he spooned cereal into his mouth. "What were you thinking about?"

"…Nothing, Mokuba."

"Oh, of course," he smirked. "Geez, Seto, you've got it bad."

"Got _what_ bad?" he growled.

"C'mon, we all know that 'nothing' means 'Serenity,' doesn't it?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," was the mumbled reply.

Now that he didn't need his brother to cooperate with him as he had during their conversation the day before, Mokuba saw no reason not to have a little fun. He continued to tease the older boy as they finished breakfast and got ready for school.

Seto grew more and more annoyed, and just before they left the front entrance hall to go down to the limousine, he turned to his younger brother. "Look here, Mokuba. Unless you want to be grounded until you're his age," he jerked his thumb towards the goon who was waiting for them by the limo, "that information is not to leave this house. Do you understand me?"

Mokuba blinked. "Of course, Seto," he said, serious this time. "I'm not gonna tell."

"Good."

The two brothers walked together down to the limousine.

* * *

_Same old, same old_… Seto thought in annoyance. Why did he bother going to school again? Oh, yes, that's right, he had to set a good example for Mokuba. Anyway, he only had to finish up this year, which was already over halfway done, and survive the next one, and he'd be free to concentrate entirely on his company instead of wasting hours a day learning things that he had commited to memory ages ago. He already had a college education, or at least the moral equivalent. Gozaburo had seen to that. 

He sighed as he gathered his belongings and moved to his next class, which would no doubt be just as boring as all the ones before it. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going. He had memorized the blueprints of the school some time ago, figuring that it might come in handy someday, so he didn't need to think about which way to go. As for bumping into someone… well, people tended to get out of his way.

So he was surprised, to say the least, when someone ran smack dab into him.

The force of the impact sent him stumbling backwards, and, momentarily stunned, he fell with a muffled curse. Whoever it was that had run into him landed on top of him.

Releasing a string of obscenities, Seto sat up…

And froze when he saw who was lying dazed across his chest.

Serenity.

She sat up, mumbling hasty apologies. She lifted her gaze to meet his and instantly colored. "Mr. Kaiba! I'm… I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I wanted to be early for my next class so I could talk to the teacher about something, I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry…" She said all of this very quickly as she rose to her knees and began to collect the various books and papers that had been scattered in the fall.

He sat staring at her, not moving. Noticing this, she stopped babbling and looked at him. "Mr. Kaiba? Are you okay?"

He jerked, snapping back to reality. "I'm fine," he replied gruffly. Trying to ignore her so that he could regain control of his shortened breathing and racing heart, he crouched, taking his laptop out of its case and giving it a quick once-over to be sure that it hadn't been damaged. Satisfied that it had not been, he replaced it in its case and rose to his feet.

Serenity had returned to collecting her scattered papers. She was stacking his own books as she did so, apparently sorting everything out. Content that she had gotten everything in line, she stood as well and offered him his dropped belongings.

"Here you go, Mr. Kaiba. I'm sorry this happened; I'll pay more attention next time."

He took them from her, swallowing as their hands accidentally brushed. _Steady, Blue Eyes_, he mentally growled. _Don't make a fool of yourself any more than you already have – remember your training_…_ Great Blue-Eyes White Dragon, did she just smile? At me?_ He nearly lost it at that, but some shred of sense saved him from losing his dignity.

"Have a good day, Mr. Kaiba."

He blinked, only now noticing that she had gathered her books and was hurrying away. He also noticed that the halls, which had been crowded earlier, were now empty. The bell must have rung sometime between the collision and just now. Odd, he hadn't heard it…

Seto looked about him, realizing that he was going to be late if he didn't hurry. The teenager spun around – his classroom was in the opposite direction from the way the girl had run off – and noticed something on the floor. He stooped down to pick it up, raising his eyebrows when he saw the sketch that had been drawn on the single sheet of white lined notebook paper.

It was a dragon. Quite a well-drawn dragon, he might add, its wings spread and its head raised high, every detail drawn with precision.

And in the bottom right-hand corner, in neat, elegant handwriting, was signed, "Serenity Wheeler."

He stared at it. He didn't know that she drew. As a matter of fact, it surprised him. Hadn't she been blind a few years ago?

He stroked the picture, careful not to smudge it. _I didn't know she liked dragons_…

He looked up, mentally kicking himself. Who cared if she liked dragons, he was going to be late! Seto Kaiba was _never_ late.

He hurried down the hall, coming close to running as he raced to his next classroom.

The teacher looked up as he stepped inside. "Mr. Kaiba. So nice of you to join us."

Seto's eyes narrowed in anger as he heard snickers from around the classroom. He glared at the teacher, his voice icy as he spoke. "One more word and I shall inform the authorities about your activities on the twenty-second of October."

The teacher froze. How in the world did one of his students know about _that_! Then again, this was _Seto Kaiba. _It was best not to mess with Seto Kaiba; he had no doubt that the CEO would follow through with the threat. Annoyed, he turned to face the chalkboard and began to lecture his class.

Seto noted this with only half of the satisfaction he would normally have felt. He looked at the sketch that was still held carefully in one hand and tucked it into his laptop case, where it wouldn't get mangled. If he had the chance, he might give it back to her.

Or… maybe not.

* * *

The time was five o'clock, and Seto Kaiba was in a much better mood. He had come straight home after school, not wanting to bother with thebigots at Kaiba Corporation Headquarters that day. The CEO was now sitting in his home office, diligently working on a paper he had wanted to have finished the day before. He had had several hours of productive work already, and he was quite pleased with how smoothly things were going. 

He glanced over at the dragon sketch, which was lying on top of a stack of files that he would have to look at later. Smirking, he returned to his work.

Just then, the door to his office swung open. He looked up to see Mokuba stroll into the room, looking cheerful about something.

"What are you so pleased about, little brother?" he asked with raised eyebrows, still smirking.

"I was going to ask you the same question. Did you have a good day at school?"

He rolled his eyes, his smirk fading into a scowl. "I'm not even going to bother answering that."

Mokuba grinned. "You know, it's not _all_ bad. School can be fun."

"It's in my way. And I told you yesterday, I don't have time for fun."

"Or a girlfriend, yes, I know." Mokuba sauntered around the desk to stand next to his brother's chair. "Work going good?"

"Going _well_, Mokuba, going _well_. And yes, it is."

Mokuba's eyes drifted to the stack of files… and to the drawing on top of them. "What's that?"

Seto jumped, his hand reaching out to snatch the picture away from his brother's inquisitive grasp. He hastily slid it under a pile of papers. "Nothing. It's nothing at all."

"Mm-hm, of course it is," said his brother, his tone betraying just how much he _really _believed him.

"So… what did you want to see me for?" Seto asked, trying to change the subject.

Mokuba blinked, putting on a hurt look. "You mean I need a reason to see my most favorite brother in the whole wide world?"

"_Only_ brother in the whole wide… Mokuba, no!" Too late, Seto realized that a corner of the sketch was poking out from under the stack of papers, and that Mokuba had reached over and tugged this corner, pulling the drawing free.

Seto reached to grab it, but Mokuba had danced out of reach, his eyes taking in the dragon – and the signature – as he did so.

"Ha! I _knew_ it!" He smirked in triumph, waving the paper at his brother. "I _knew_ it had something to do with her! Where'd you get this, Seto? Did she give it to you?"

"Not exactly…" he muttered.

"Then how?"

With a sigh, Seto explained about the incident in the hallway earlier that day.

"You're _kidding_! You ran into her – literally – had her _on top of you_, no less – and you… didn't say _anything_?" Mokuba squeaked.

"…"

"You're _hopeless_, Seto, _hopeless_!"

"Good. Now that we both agree that there's no hope for me, you can drop it."

"No way, big brother, no way."

Seto ran a hand through his hair. "Just give me the damn picture back."

"Or you'll do what?" Mokuba teased.

"_Personally_ take apart your Game Cube and use its parts to assemble my latest Duel Disk model," he growled, not in the mood for games.

"Aw, come on Seto, where's your sense of humor?" groaned Mokuba as he hurriedly handed him the sketch.

Seto tucked it safely into his laptop case. "Sorry, I must have left it in my room this morning as I was getting ready for school," he replied sarcastically.

"_Anyway_, Seto," Mokuba said, sitting on the edge of the desk. "I actually did have a reason for coming in here."

"Of course you did. Care to enlighten me?" Seto scowled.

"Sure thing. I've decided. You need a break–"

"_Mokuba_, I didn't get any work done yesterday. I've had enough break time; I need to work."

"No you don't! Just 'cause you weren't working yesterday doesn't mean you had a break! Yesterday was really stressful for you."

"Mokuba…"

"C'mon Seto, please? Just come get dinner with me or something, I don't care. We haven't done anything together in _ages_." He reached over, putting a hand on his brother's arm. "Please?"

Seto sighed. Mokuba was right. It had been a long time since they'd been able to enjoy some time together. "Okay."

"Really! You mean it? All _right_! Where d'you wanna go?"

Seto smiled. "You choose."

* * *

A/N: Thanks to Caorann for the October twenty-second idea! I liked that a lot! (wink) 

Review?


	4. Commendation

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply.

A/N: I'm sorry to say that is the last chapter. Enjoy it, and thanks for sticking with me to the end!

* * *

Seto looked down at his younger brother, smiling slightly. The boy was bouncing along next to him, beaming at everyone and everything. They had decided to walk to the restaurant he had chosen, a slightly small but still fairly classy place on the boardwalk at the harbor. Seto had never gone there before, but his brother assured him that the food was excellent, and he had called in two reservations. 

Mokuba turned his joyful gaze up to meet his brother's. He reached over and grabbed his hand, laughing. "C'mon, big bro! Let's run!"

"Mokuba, we don't need to run. We have plenty of time; we don't need to be there for another half hour."

"So? It's fun! C'mon, Seto, run with me!" Tugging on the older boy's hand, laughing like a small child, Mokuba broke into a run.

Seto rolled his eyes, but decided to humor him. He increased his pace, eventually breaking into a jog, his long legs easily keeping pace with his smaller brother's leaps and bounds.

As the mansion was set apart from the rest of Domino City, they had quite a walk (or run, as the case may be) before they reached the main part of town. They had only arrived at the outskirts when, for the second time that day, someone had the nerve to run into him.

Seto Kaiba once more found himself falling to the ground, this time in a tangle of long black hair as Mokuba fell with him. Whoever had hit him also fell, and the three of them landed in an undignified heap upon the hard sidewalk.

Seto sat up, automatically checking to be sure that his little brother wasn't injured. The raven-haired boy was sitting a few feet from him, a dazed look on his face. Other than that, he appeared to be fine.

He then looked at the person who had run into them. A strange feeling of déjà vu swept over him as he realized who it was.

* * *

"Oof. What happened?" Mokuba asked, his voice as stunned as the look on his face. He shook his head to clear it, and looked over at his brother and the girl who had run into them. 

She seemed slightly familiar to him, as if he had seen her once or twice a long time ago. Duel Monsters, something to do with Duel Monsters… Then he had it: a trace of fiery hair on board the Battle City Blimp, watching her brother duel with rapt attention.

He leaned over, nudging his staring brother. "Hey Seto, is that…?" he asked, just to be sure.

Seto's reply came out slightly strangled-sounding. "Yes."

Mokuba smirked, his brain plotting a devilish plan, and climbed to his feet. He walked over to the girl, smiling as he held his hand out to her. "I'm sorry about that. Are you okay?"

She looked up, smiling and taking his hand, letting him help her to her feet. "I'm okay. You?"

"I'm fine. It's Serenity, isn't it? Joey Wheeler's sister?"

She seemed startled that he knew who she was. "Yes… have we met?"

"Only once or twice," he replied casually. "And it was a while ago; I'm not surprised if you don't remember. I might not either, except that Seto's always talking about you." He gestured at his brother, who had also climbed to his feet. He then hid a grimace as Seto stepped on his foot, hissing, "Quiet!"

Serenity looked at Seto. Mokuba noticed with interest that she turned a curious shade of red when her eyes met his. "M-Mr. Kaiba?" She looked at Mokuba again. "Then… you must be Mokuba, right? I think I remember meeting you once."

He nodded. "Yeah – back at Battle City."

"Well… It was nice meeting you again, Mokuba. Um… Nice seeing you, too, Mr. Kaiba. Sorry this happened, um, again…" She smiled embarrassedly and turned as if to go.

Mokuba quickly lunged forward and grabbed her hand. "Wait!"

She looked back at him, surprised. "What?"

"Would you like to walk with us? I mean, if you're not busy?"

"I…" She looked from the long haired boy to his expressionless brother and back.

"Please?" Mokuba pleaded.

"I… Sure, if your brother doesn't mind."

"Of course he doesn't!" Mokuba reassured her. Inside he was practically cackling with glee as he nudged Seto with his elbow. "Right, Seto?"

Seto looked down at his seemingly innocent brother, wondering what exactly it was the boy was plotting. He was planning something, that much was clear, and glancing at Serenity, the seventeen-year-old was fairly certain he knew what it was.

He spun on his heel, wanting to escape from the girl who had somehow captured his heart. But there was no way he could possibly refuse to allow her to accompany them. "It's fine," he said, beginning to walk away.

He heard them following him, Mokuba chatting eagerly with Serenity about whatever random topic popped into his head. It was obvious to Seto that he was waiting for something, though what, the CEO supposed he would have to wait to discover.

He didn't have to wait long, however. Scarce ten minutes after running into Serenity, Mokuba suddenly stopped, releasing a dismayed cry. The two teenagers turned to look at him, puzzled and slightly alarmed.

"Is everything all right?" Serenity asked.

Slapping his forehead in self-exasperation, Mokuba spoke. "I forgot! I can't believe it, I forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

The little boy looked at her seriously. "I've got a _huge_ project due for school soon and I've barely done any! I meant to get some done tonight, but…" He gave her a helpless look.

Seto lifted an eyebrow. This was the first he had heard of a school project.

"Well… Can't you work on it when you get home?" Serenity suggested.

"I guess… But," here he looked at Seto, "Seto and I were gonna go get dinner after this. We've got reservations and everything! And I was looking forward to it." He sniffed.

_Please don't tell me he's thinking what I think he's thinking_… Seto thought, beginning to understand where all of this was going. "I'm sure you'll be able to get it done when we get back, Mokuba. I'll even help you," he suggested, a bit too quickly.

Mokuba gave him a mournful look, and Seto had the distinct impression that he was struggling not to burst out laughing. "No… I don't want to bother you, Seto, you've got a lot of work to do, too. Besides," he sighed, "you're s'posed to be taking a break, 'member? 'Cause you've been working too hard? That's why we decided to get dinner. But it'll defeat the purpose if we need to go home and get right to work on my project."

Serenity's eyes tracked each speaker, shifting from Mokuba to Seto and back. Finally, looking at Mokuba in concern, she asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I don't think… Wait a minute!" Mokuba suddenly smiled in joyful triumph. "I've got it! _You_ can go with Seto!" he exclaimed in excitement, grabbing her hand.

"What?" she asked, baffled.

Ignoring her, he continued. "That way, I can go home and work on my project, and Seto can still get his break! I mean, sure, I was looking forward to goin', but this is the best solution, right?"

Seto swallowed. _Great. Just great._ He opened his mouth to say something, but Serenity beat him to it.

"I don't think your brother would really want to have dinner with me." She glanced at him.

"He won't mind!" Mokuba said. "I mean…" his face fell, "unless you don't want to or something."

"Oh, no, it's not that!" she was quick to reassure him, blushing. "It's just… Well, he hates me, doesn't he? Don't you?" She directed the last question directly to the CEO.

Seto quickly weighed his options. If he said yes, not only would he be lying, but he would be destroying any chance, no matter how small, that his brother's plot would work, destroying any hope that he might finally get closer to this girl. If he said no… Well, that was just unacceptable. Not only was he supposed to hate everyone except Mokuba, but her brother was _Joey Wheeler_.

"I hate your brother," he said finally. "And your friends."

"But do you hate _me_?" she asked, looking uncertain now.

Mokuba stepped in. "He doesn't know you well enough to know yet, do you, Seto?" he lied. "So this is a good chance to find out, isn't it?" He smiled at both of them. "C'mon, it's the perfect solution! We have _two_ reservations, there are _two_ of you, I'll work on my project, and Seto still gets a break! Please?"

"I… guess so," Serenity said. "If you're sure you don't mind, Mr. Kaiba.

"Great, it's settled then!" Mokuba beamed, not waiting for him to reply. "And stop calling him 'Mr. Kaiba,' at least for tonight," he added. "That's too formal; just have fun!" With that, he waved, turned, and sprinted in the opposite direction, throwing a "'Bye! Have fun!" over his shoulder.

Seto stared after him, gritting his teeth, and then turned to Serenity.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked.

"Whatever," he replied. "Come on." He turned around and walked away, not looking behind to see if she was coming.

After a moment's hesitation, he heard her footsteps follow after him.

* * *

Mokuba paced his room restlessly, wondering how things were going with Seto and Serenity. He had, of course, been lying through his teeth when he had told them about his "project." It had all been part of his plan: get Seto alone with Serenity and see how things went from there. If his brother couldn't handle it himself, he supposed he would have to step in again, but for now all he could do was wait. 

He sighed, pulling a piece of pizza from the box on his bed. He had been looking forward to spending some time with Seto that evening. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make, however. There would be many more times where the two of them could get dinner together (he'd make sure of it!), but how many chances would he get to hook his brother up with a girl?

"What's taking so long?" the raven-haired child muttered, looking out the window for the hundredth time. "It's been an hour and a half, why isn't he back yet?" He supposed it was a good sign; they must be enjoying themselves if they hadn't hurried to get it over with.

His hopes were finally rewarded when saw two figures walking up the long drive to the Kaiba mansion. He smiled. Seto was home!

"Wait…" he murmured. Two figures? "Is that…?"

Without waiting to see more, he dashed out of his room and down to the front entrance hall, where Seto and Serenity were just coming through the door.

_He brought her back with him!_ Mokuba thought ecstatically. _That means things must have gone well!_

"Hey, guys!" he greeted.

"Hello, Mokuba," Serenity returned his greeting

"Did you have dinner yet, Mokuba?" Seto asked.

"Yeah, I ordered pizza. So… Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, we had fun!" Serenity smiled. "How's your project going?"

"Project?" he asked in confusion. Seeing Seto smirk, he remembered. "Oh! My _project_! It's going great, thanks for asking!" He smiled innocently at her baffled face.

"Which reminds me, Mokuba," said Seto, "I think you and I need to have a little chat about something… Carlson!" he called out.

"Mr. Kaiba?" A goon stepped out of the shadows.

"Please escort Miss Wheeler to one of the sitting rooms."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." The goon stepped to Serenity, motioning her to follow him.

She looked uncertainly at the CEO. "Seto?"

"I'll be right with you, Serenity. This will just take a moment."

"...All right." She followed after Carlson, leaving the two brothers alone.

"So… What did you want to talk about, Seto?" Mokuba asked, feigning innocence.

Seto approached him, throwing a casual arm around his shoulders in mock friendliness. "This is the first time I've heard of project, little brother. Would you care to tell me about it?"

"Oh, that," said Mokuba, keeping a serious look on his face. "I like to call it 'Operation: Seto Gets the Girl.'"

"Mm-hm… I see." Seto straightened, glaring. "I should ground you for that."

"But you won't," said Mokuba with certainty.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What give you that idea?"

"Admit it; you had fun," was the smug reply.

"Why would you think that?"

"'Cause I know you too well. You wouldn't have brought her home if you weren't enjoying yourself."

"…"

"Did you tell her yet?"

"Tell her what?"

"How you feel?"

"No!"

"Well what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?"

"I…" He scowled.

"Actually, Seto, I'm impressed. A few hours ago, you could barely talk in her presence; now you've invited her home? I knew my plan was ingenious, but this is even better than I could have hoped. All you have to do now is tell her…"

"…Don't you have homework to go do?"

Mokuba smirked. "Sure thing, big brother."

* * *

"C'mon, Seto, just kiss her already," Mokuba growled, adjusting the focus on his binoculars. He had snuck into the room a few doors down from where Seto and Serenity were talking on a balcony, and was now craning out of the window, observing them. 

He raised a slice of pizza to his mouth, not taking his eyes off of the two teenagers. He couldn't understand why his brother didn't just say something; it was the obvious thing to do. Mokuba was positive that Serenity felt the same way; he had noticed her continual blushing around the young CEO. Then again, he didn't know her very well. He supposed it was possible that she just blushed a lot – but that couldn't be terribly healthy…

"That's it…" he murmured, watching the two draw closer together as if drawn by some inescapable magnet – not that either looked like they wanted to escape. "That's it…"

Finally, he smirked. "Bingo. Go Seto." He drew away from the window, deciding to leave them to their privacy. Hanging his binoculars around his neck, he finished the last of his pizza, smiling in satisfaction. "Operation: Seto Gets the Girl. Mission status: complete. Well done, Mokuba. Well done."

* * *

END

* * *

A/N: Once again, thanks for sticking with me 'til the end! Dispite what I keep telling myself, I had a lot of fun writing this story. I think you can count of some more of this type from me, though I don't know when exactly. Maybe a sequel? And definitely some other stuff. (nod) 

Oh, before I forget, I have some shameless advertising to do. If any of you have a LiveJournal, might I request that you check community that I just started a few days ago? It's devoted to Seto and Mokuba, my two ultimate favorite _Yu Gi Oh!_ characters. If you love the Kaiba brothers, then you should take a look. We have contests, challenges, fanfiction, fanart, discussions... You name it! There's a link from my profile, if you're interested!

Review?


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